Prince Charles Fumes Over Foxes

Prince Charles' reported threat to leave Britain if it banned fox hunting has been welcomed by at least one lawmaker.

"I think it's wonderful. I was keen to vote to get rid of fox hunting. I'm doubly keen now _ what a bonus," Dennis Skinner of the governing Labor Party said Monday.

Several newspapers reported Sunday that Charles wrote a strident letter to Prime Minister Tony Blair accusing the government of destroying the countryside.

Charles reportedly passed on remarks made to him by a Cumbrian farmer that "if we, as a group, were black or gay, we would not be victimized or picked upon" _ a statement the prince apparently agreed with.

The Mail on Sunday newspaper also said that an unidentified senior politician had claimed to have heard the prince on some unspecified date threaten to emigrate if hunting was stopped.

Downing Street and St. James's Palace both declined to say whether the letter existed or the meeting had taken place.

"The Prince of Wales is perfectly entitled to his views. The prime minister and the prince have a very good relationship," said Blair's official spokesman, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity.

Tony Banks, a Labor Party candidate for London mayor and a prominent animal welfare campaigner, said the reported comments were offensive to true minority groups.

"If this is true _ and no one knows whether it is true or not _ I think quite a lot of people will find it both invidious and offensive to talk about minorities, whether they are ethnic minorities or minorities based on sexual orientation, and to compare that with a minority of people who want to carry on ripping wild animals to pieces," Banks said.

Charles' comments were reported on the day that more than 400,000 farmers, gamekeepers, hunting enthusiasts and rural residents gathered in London for a rally in support of fox hunting and their rural way of life.

Rural affairs minister Alun Michael said the government understood the concerns of the demonstrators, including closure of rural schools and hospitals and falling farm incomes.

But he said the government had to legislate for the whole country, particularly on the issue of fox hunting. Opinion polls have consistently indicated a majority of Britons oppose the sport.